ELCA Publishing House Proceeds with New Magazine for Women

COLUMBUS, Ohio (ELCA) -- Augsburg Fortress Publishers, the publishing house of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), is authorized to spend as much as $500,000 in 2000 to launch its new Christian women's magazine, "Sunday/Monday WOMAN."
The executive committee of the publisher's board of trustees authorized the expenditure -- a budget allocation separate from the company's regular budget -- in an April 14 meeting by conference call. The full board was informed of the decision at its April 27-29 meeting here.
Sunday/Monday WOMAN is intended for an ecumenical market. Its articles will focus on current topics of interest to women, devotions, tips for living, book, video and music reviews, and motivational articles.
Start-up costs for the magazine were not included in the regular Augsburg Fortress budget for 2000 because original estimates were deemed too high, said George W. Poehlman, Augsburg Fortress vice president for finance and treasurer. Original estimates placed first year costs as high as $1 million, he explained.
"Plans for Sunday/Monday WOMAN were revised and first-year costs were cut in half by reducing the number of issues scheduled for 2000," Poehlman said.
The company's management believes it may be able to secure as much as $400,000 in grants or subsidies for the new magazine, resulting in a net cost of as little as $100,000 this year to Augsburg Fortress, he said. The $500,000 in start-up costs are "simply the entry fee for trying to get a new magazine started," said Poehlman.
"We have no guarantees we are going to get these grants," he said. "We are going to work hard to come in with less than $500,000 in costs with grants, but it was important for the executive committee to understand there are no guarantees."
In 2000 the company plans to produce two issues of Sunday/Monday WOMAN. About 27,000 copies each will be printed and distributed. Six issues of Sunday/Monday WOMAN are planned for 2001, with circulation projected at 77,000, Poehlman said. By its fifth year, the publisher projects circulation at nearly 200,000, and it believes the publication will have recouped its original start-up costs by then, he said.
Financial reasons are not the only reasons to publish the magazine, Poehlman said. Initial marketing of the magazine has resulted in a "tremendous" response, he said.
"This is clearly an example of a market-driven product," Poehlman said. "This well fits the mission of the publishing house."
After the idea for the magazine was first discussed by the Augsburg Fortress board last fall, Women of the ELCA, which produces "Lutheran Woman Today" (LWT), expressed numerous concerns. LWT has a circulation of about 180,000 and is also published by Augsburg Fortress. The new publication has the potential to divert attention from research, growth and development of LWT and impact customer service, said Catherine I.H. Braasch, executive director, Women of the ELCA. The women's organization had "repeatedly expressed" its concerns about the new publication since 1998, she added.
Women of the ELCA and LWT want a strategic partnership with the ELCA's publishing house, Braasch said.
Last fall, the executive board of Women of the ELCA asked presidents of the 64 synodical women's organizations of the church, including the executive director and president of Women of the ELCA, to write letters of protest to Augsburg Fortress about the new magazine.
Augsburg Fortress received few letters expressing concerns about the new publication, said the Rev. Marvin L. Roloff, president and chief executive officer.

For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or NEWS@ELCA.ORG
http://listserv.elca.org/archives/elcanews.html